Picnics are a British institution; all you need is a basket full of scoff, a stiff upper lip, horizontal driving rain, and teeth-gritting determination that the weather/wasps/curious herd of cows will not spoil the bliss of eating food out of doors. The picnic is the most versatile of feasts, yet needing only two ingredients: some outside space, and something to eat. Picnics can be taken at any time of the year; cake and a flask of hot tea on a cold winter walk, or a cool box stuffed with (sand) sandwiches for a day on the beach. The outside bit means that you can choose from infinite locations: a shady part of your garden, the local park, a mountain top, a cricket match, or a green and lazy riverbank. The food bit could be a six course meal (don't forget your butler to carry the hamper) or cucumber sandwiches wrapped in tinfoil. You can have a picnic breakfast, brunch, luncheon or evening meal; make the most of the beautiful mornings, and long evenings to eat outside.
I am passionate about picnics, and have a massive selection of wicker baskets, cool boxes, ice packs, plates, glasses, and blankets. I love preparing a perfect picnic with pretty plates and a blanket, a selection of salads, cheeses, olives, home made bread, chilled cider, a flask of coffee to go with cake, all packed neatly and snugly into a basket, and ready to be enjoyed in a perfect setting. Equally I love to throw kids and dog into the car, chuck some hard-boiled eggs, a French stick, a lump of cheese and an onion into a bag with a knife wrapped in a tea towel; the perfect no-fuss picnic.
Often we will forage for something to add to the picnic, sorrel, wild garlic, whortle berries, blackberries or cob nuts, and on one unforgettable picnic on a windswept Cornish beach we dined on apples from a pip-grown tree from someone else's picnic many years before. Even the most ordinary of foods takes on another layer of taste and interest when it is enjoyed on a grassy bank overlooking a pretty view. The picnic is the perfect cheap day out with kids, if there is nothing much to do, mine will always ask for a picnic, they will cram themselves full of salad and fruit (which they might spurn for an ordinary lunch at home), and burn off huge amounts of energy running everywhere, paddling in streams and climbing trees.
Even picky grown-ups, who are inclined to dismiss vegetables and salads as rabbit food, may feel more inclined to tuck into a roughly sliced beef tomato and a handful of salad leaves at a picnic. You can turn a picnic into the perfect healthy outing; stop off at the farmers market for fresh ingredients, invite friends and family, take a long walk to the picnic spot, play rounders or organise rolly polly competitions when you get there, and pack bubbles for children to chase. Sit back over a long relaxed lunch and admire your surroundings, or chill out while the kids run round and enjoy the fresh air and space. There are plenty of urban and rural locations which will make a perfect summer picnic, so get out there and enjoy!
Until next time ,
get nibbling outside,
Vikki
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